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Sunday, 20 April 2014

First wave of ARCTIC TERNS

Arctic Terns, Startop's End Reservoir, 20 April (LGRE)

EASTER SUNDAY 20 APRIL

With a raw Northeasterly wind blowing and
overcast grey skies before the rains arrived late morning, it was classic
conditions for an arrival of ARCTIC TERNS, taking the short cut between the
Severn Estuary and the North Sea...

It was Steve Rodwell that first located the
flock of 15 ARCTIC TERNS that arrived on WILSTONE early morning - a flyover
WHIMBREL the further reward of those early watchers (IW, DB &
SR)

I arrived on site at around 0900 hours, all
15 ARCTIC TERNS having relocated to the smaller reservoirs and showing well.
They were favouring the far NW corner of STARTOP'S END and intermingled with
over 20 Common Terns present. Both Common Redshank were on the bunds, as was one
of the four local Oystercatchers, whilst 7 YELLOW WAGTAILS were the highest
count of the spring thus far. A male WILLOW WARBLER was singing from the bushes
in the car park opposite the Angler's Retreat, while House Sparrows
(10) and Greenfinch (4) were far more obvious than usual. A lot of HOUSE MARTINS
had arrived overnight (66+), with good numbers of both Barn Swallow and Sand
Martin overhead (65 & 105 respectively). The hedgerow on the Bucks side of
the canal now held two 'rattling' male LESSER WHITETHROATS, while a male
Blackcap was in song from the cluster of bushes at the causeway join; 7 Mute
Swans, Grey Wagtail, 3 Linnet and a particularly confiding Grey Heron were also
noted (see pix below).

Common Redshanks seem to be resident on the bunds

Atlantic Canada nesting on one of the rafts

A nice male Yellow Wagtail

The first-year ROSS'S SNOW GOOSE was again
with 4 Greylag Geese in the MARSWORTH RESERVOIR fields (before flying off
towards Wilstone), with 17+ Common Tern, Green Woodpecker and 2 male Reed
Buntings also noted. WESTERN REED WARBLERS had now increased to at least 7, with
1 SEDGE WARBLER singing and at least 2 CETTI'S.

TRINGFORD RESERVOIR held two drake
Red-crested Pochards, 13 Tufted Duck, 2 Barn Swallows and a singing male Song
Thrush, while WILSTONE was equally appealing with just 3 Common Terns, 80 Barn
Swallow, 4 drake Pochard and a flyover juvenile Herring Gull. The number of
young Sinensis being fed in the Drayton Bank colony was a remarkable
27! A Skylark was singing from the cereal crop in the NW corner.

About Me

I have been birding since 1969 but became obsessed with 'twitching' in 1974 and haven't looked back since. Have driven over 1.3 million miles in pursuit of rare birds in the UK, where to date I have recorded 588 species in Britain and Ireland. I also have a fascination for the Birds of the Western Palearctic, where I have currently recorded 880 of the 1,064 species ever recorded. I am widely travelled in North America, as well as in Africa and Asia, and have written at least 29 books on my chosen subject, including best-sellers ''Ultimate Site Guide to Scarcer British Birds' and 'Rare Birds in Britain 1800-1990'. Established the UK400 Club in 1981 to cater for the most obsessive of the British birding fraternity and now concentrate on online publishing, via the www.uk400clubonline.co.uk website. Record Birding achievements include recording 386 species in Britain & Ireland in 1996 and 627+ in the Western Palearctic in 2008